The pregnant transgender man talks to Oprah
From a recap on Oprah's site:
Thomas [Beatie] says the desire to have children doesn't make him feel like less of a man. "I have a very stable male gender identity. I see pregnancy as a process, and it doesn't define who I am. It's not a male or female desire to want to have a child…it's a human desire," he says. "I'm a person, and I have the right to have my own biological child."
Beatie's obstetrician also appeared on the show and said, according to Reuters, "This baby is totally healthy. This is what I consider a normal pregnancy."
-Greg Dahlmann
Earlier on blog.bioethics.net:
+ A pregnant father
photo: Harpo Productions
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what! this woman is not a man. she had a 'sex change' and is pregnant. nothing amazing about it. she is a woman. born a woman and biologically remains a woman. Not facinating just reality. Woman can get pregnant.
- by leia on Apr 5, 2008 at 1:12 AM | link
Oprah is a wonderful, inspirational, powerful woman, and I have a great deal of respect for her and her accomplishments. However, she occasionally encourages misinformation about some issues; I didn't see the show, so I don't know how she explained it. I hope that she explained the details sufficiently so people came out more informed and understanding than less so. Raising awareness of the discrimination and bigotry in society regarding transgendered people is a good thing, but care needs to be taken in promoting factual information.
- by SabrinaW on Apr 6, 2008 at 1:33 PM | link
i am just confused about this. Does he have a penis? If he got pregnant, did he do it right before he become transgender, which means he must have been a women very recently. So, did he just get pregnant as a woman, then recently become a man?
If he has a penis, how did he get pregnant, and why was he having sex with a man as a man? The real question is this: did he have sex as a man or as a women and if he did as a man, how could he get pregnant with a penis?
I am not making any jokes. i am not that educated about this type of stuff and i really would like answers. I am not posting my email but you could just post a comment under mine as a supply.
- by mike on Apr 12, 2008 at 9:59 PM | link
He has female genitalia and become pregant deliberately through insemination.
- by emily on Apr 14, 2008 at 9:07 AM | link
Most F-to-M transgenders do not get penile reconstructive surgery because it is very expensive and invasive, and does not result in a "real penis", only a tube of skin that roughly resembles one. I believe that in this case, he was on hormones and had completed the transition from F-to-M, but stopped the hormones in order to become pregnant by either artificial insemination or in vitro. I'm sure that the details can be found online.
Regarding getting pregnant with a penis, spotted hyenas do it. :)
- by SabrinaW on Apr 14, 2008 at 9:20 AM | link
A woman who became a man acting like a woman, big deal we havse seen that before on TV, lol
it is no man pregnant, it is still a woman, I thought it was really a man till I read the details, oh wow big deal
- by kawn on Apr 20, 2008 at 3:46 PM | link
I'm glad so many people think this a step in the right direction. Well let's get something clear; this child is going to have a very rough life because of this person's selfish actions. Everyone knows how evil children can be surrounding other kids of different backgrounds regardless of how many "acceptance lectures" they receive at school. I know gay and lesbian couples run into such circumstances so now imagine the added distractions of person who appears to be a "male" giving birth to a child. If "he" wanted to give birth to a child he should have remained a woman. Yes we have the right to do what we want with our bodies but this action will hurt the life he is bringing into this world. You can call me a bigot but the world, not I, will follow this couple like a circus. This child will know at a very early age that there is something very different with his or her parent's due to the media. So support this couple in their choice of self gratification at the expense of a normal life for their child. I for one already feel sorrow for this unborn child.
- by drew on Jun 8, 2008 at 4:28 PM | link
This is like a woman with a beard and no breasts getting pregnant.
- by Jennifer on Jun 10, 2008 at 10:35 AM | link
As a woman who has carried and delivered three children I am offended by the continued referral to this woman as a "pregnant man" when she is no more male than any other woman biologically. While she had her breasts removed and received hormone therapy for a period of time, in my opinion she should never have been granted a legal change of gender to "male" when she had no plans to follow though with gender reassignment. I am offended on behalf of my many gay friends who have the personal courage to persue the right to legally marry a person of the same sex when it appears they could easily follow in this persons footsteps to bypass the existing laws regarding marriage between same sex individuals. I feel these two individuals have defrauded the government in regard to taxes among other things. I question the stability of either of these two people in regard to raising a child.
- by Sharon on Jul 23, 2008 at 2:06 AM | link